Sunday No Break-ins, Church, and D&D

I woke on Sunday without fear or scary dreams. I checked the house and found no new break-ins. The thieves have the printer and the UV hardener; they don’t need more things.

I managed to write the blog after getting some coffee. The coffee was assembled the night before and was just waiting for me. I sipped coffee while watching the sunrise and writing the blog. I was happy to get another sunrise with the home invasion and the political news. Apparently, if ICE were operating in Beaverton (and they do), they could just shoot me down, and Trump and the administration would say it was my fault. It is great to see another sunrise, coffee, and a blog.

I enjoy the morning, including an English muffin with orange marmalade (my favorite) and a banana, all purchased from the corner veggie market on 18th and TV Highway. I wrote and told yet another tragic story about thieves stealing from me, and completed the blog with plenty of time to spare.

I texted and talked to Deborah all day. We are both busy, but we still talked and texted. We miss each other, but the new world of iPhone makes it easier to be separated. Deborah found a fun trip in Utah that covers parks and sites in southern Utah. We might do that as an extension to her business trip at the end of March.

I lose focus, then shower and dress for church. Dondrea is giving the sermon, and I get there in Air VW the Gray wearing a puffin tie from Deborah as a memory of our visit to Iceland (and my discovery of cookbooks at the airport that had recipes for puffin, “Don’t eat the tie!”). I have my sweater vest, dress shirt, black shoes, and usher for Dondrea. There was an issue with a door being unlocked. Dondrea tested it, and I finally let her in — not hearing her calls to open the door (the wrong ear was pointed toward the door).  She smiles and says, “You have to let me in; I am preaching!”

Today’s sermon was about happiness and covered Ecclesiastes’ message that there is a time for everything, as well as some of Paul’s comments on bravely facing suffering. Dondrea’s focus was that when we try to define what makes us happy and pursue it, we are often disappointed. Dondrea points out that, for example, New Year’s resolutions seldom make us happy and are usually ignored. That, like Ecclesiastes and Paul’s message, we need to accept the happiness we can find, imperfect as it is, and that may free us. To expand on Dondrea’s words, our modern lifestyle, with social media, drives us to say things like ‘been there, done that’ rather than just enjoying the simpler pleasures.

Aside: I usually take a copy of the church bulletin with me after church to get the scripture right and other details, but I forgot this Sunday. I will have to muddle through.

The Refresh project is done. All the hot water and backsplash are done. We will move some of the old tables back soon. Wendy, the church admin, is now responsible for how spaces are used.

I headed home and reheated the chicken I made the previous night, along with some stuffing. I watched the last of Halo, not caring for the space zombie ending. There is a lot of support for a second season, but so far, it has not happened. I returned to painting my figure for the game that evening at M@’s house. We are playing the 2024 version of Dungeons & Dragons, which seems to be a more simplified version.

Corwin stopped by and grabbed some food (but left me the ribs). He was worried about the break-ins and will stop by more often. It was funny; he was locked out because the front and side doors were locked. He forgot there was a doorbell. I can hear the doorbell. I let him in, and he commented that that was the first time that had happened. I have not locked more doors until now.

We talked for a bit while I finished shading my figure. I use oil paints for that and had to wait for the oils to dry before I could put on the final dull coat (a very light coat, as it does what it says). My process is to, even with a 3D printed figure, to prime them with a spray, this time white, paint the acrylic colors in three main painting rounds, basic colors (including the speed paint), details added, and then fine details and corrections made. I then lock that in with a light gloss coat sprayed on. After that, I added oil paint, flat black mixed with a lot of thinner, to create the shading. Once that dries, I usually base it by adding some miniature gravel and plants (all very expensive), but today I did not have time for that. Lastly, I spray lightly with dull coat. I use the expensive Mr. Super Clear small cans. I use German Gray for black and shade it to black. On this scale, black makes things disappear. Others use dry brushing of grays for the same look, but I like this better.

Often, I find a mistake, a dot of a color, for example, in the wrong place, at the end, and I just paint over the dull coat and do not spray it again. If the metal is too dull, I dry-brush more metal color over the protective coating.

Corwin heads out, and I head to M@’s, but do have to return for my phone, and soon am at M@’s. We are playing a 2024 version of an old AD&D adventure, and it has some of the problems of those times. The ecology of the structure (caverns with tombs) is senseless, but still fun if you just let that go and accept the next thing without question. Scott, who seldom gets hit, was smashed up in a few encounters.

(My new figure is the blue one with the red feather in the hat. The figure is in the paper 2D boat.)

We are not interested in anything other than the goal and do minimal combat. We are not typical D&D ‘murder hobos.’ Mostly, we use role playing, trickery, and staying focused on the goal. We also look for the easiest way in and do more reconnaissance than most groups. M@ let us know that we had found the next level, that it was not prepared, and we then decided to explore more of the current level, but again, avoiding combat when we could.

It was a fun evening. I returned home, had a snack, and read. I did hear a noise outside that startled me. I am still reacting, but I checked everything and all was fine.

I slept without fear and soon began to dream. In my dream world, I was traveling again, with Deborah, and it seemed to be a good time in dream Portland and dream Michigan.

Thanks for reading!